Online Safety Digital Conference:

Simone is Head of Policy and Research at Internet Matters. She is responsible for stakeholder engagement, developing evidence-led policy positions and delivering projects which aim to influence Government, industry and more.  She leads the organisation’s programme of work on vulnerable children, and is Chair of the UK Council for Internet Safety’s Vulnerable Users Working Group. Simone was previously a Senior Policy Adviser to the Children’s Commissioner, leading on digital policy, and a researcher at the think tank Demos. She started her career working for a children’s autism charity. Outside of work Simone is Safeguarding Governor for a primary school in North London.

Sarah spent 16 years in the civil service working in a number of key roles to tackle serious organised crime and protect children including the Deputy Director for the Online Child Sexual Abuse Threat (CEOP) at the National Crime Agency and the co-chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce.  Sarah moved over to Ofcom to head up CSA Policy and law enforcement engagement as part of Ofcom’s new responsibilities under the Online Safety bill and lead the development of CSA measures for the draft Illegal Harms codes of practice which are due to be published post Royal Assent in Autumn.

Dr VIRGINIA FRANQUEIRA is a senior lecturer in cyber security in the Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS) & School of Computing at the University of Kent, and the director of Kent’s Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (Gold Award 2023-2028, recognised by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)). She received her M.Sc. from the Federal University of Espirito Santo (Brazil), and her Ph.D. from the University of Twente (the Netherlands). She has around 60 publications and her research interests include digital forensics (including child sexual abuse and exploitation), studies related to cybercrime and interpersonal crimes (e.g., cyberstalking and domestic abuse), and pre-university cyber security education. She is currently co-organising the second edition of the “International Workshop on Child Online Safety and Harms” (COSH 2024) and welcome contributions. She is a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy.

I have worked for 14 years at Billing Brook school. It is a SEND school with 256 on role ages 4-18.

Working in SEND has meant that as a school we have really had to consider how we support students and families accessing the online world. With so many pulls to interact online; being able to be someone else, not being judged, finding a way to communicate with others, it’s easy to see why our students enjoy being online. The figures since the pandemic have shown how children and young adults have increased their social media and online use in ways we couldn’t predict. With all this in mind, Billing brook school has been able to create an online safety curriculum which is relatable and real; using platforms which mimic the online space, as well as being able to create podcasts and use social media to connect with our school community. We are the only school in Northamptonshire who holds the 360 safe mark, which was reaccredited in January after first achieving in 2019. We work closely with agencies such as TARGET, CIRV, police and council advisors to ensure that we have the most up to date information being shared. We link with companies such as National online safety and Natterhub to provide training and curriculum. Alongside this we work with other SEND schools in the county to generate an online safety network, where colleagues receive CEOP training as well as a chance to problem solve as a group. The online world needs to be seen as a space just as meeting at a cafe or restaurant is – it cannot be taught about or spoken about in a way that suggests it isn’t real life, and this is something that we do at Billing Brook; bringing it into lessons across the curriculum, providing transferable resources and opening up conversations.

Dr Peter Macaulay, is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby. In July 2021, Peter became a Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Derby. Previously, he was working as a Lecturer in Psychology at Staffordshire University between 2019-2021. Peter’s main research interests lie within the area of social developmental psychology. In particular, Peter’s work focuses on the perceptions and experiences of cyberbullying, face-to-face bullying, and bystander intervention. One current area of research explores how teachers and young people reperceive and respond to cyberbullying in the school environment. A second strand of research also examines how young people perceive personal and situational factors in bullying, and how this may impact on their bystander intervention. Peter also does research on projects exploring children’s online safety and anti-bullying interventions.

Martha Evans (BA Hons FRSA) is Director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, supporting its 230 members in all aspects of bullying across policy, campaigns and practice improvement. She coordinates the national Anti-Bullying Week campaign reaching 7.5 million children and young people. Martha sat on the Royal Cyberbullying Taskforce, led by the Duke of Cambridge, and currently sits on the UK Safer Internet Centre Advisory Board and the Internet Matters Expert Group.

Martha has project managed significant anti-bullying programmes including United Against bullying and has developed a series of CPD reaching tens of thousands of children’s practitioners each year and resources covering discriminatory bullying, online bullying and supporting children who bully.

Matthew Scott was first elected as Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2016, becoming the country’s youngest PCC. He was re-elected in 2021.

Prior to that he worked as a parliamentary manager in Westminster and has also served as a local Conservative councillor. He has a degree in Public Policy, Government and Management from the University of Birmingham.

He is married and a father of 3 young children and a passionate advocate of keeping young people safe. He has commissioned a popular online safety and healthy relationships programme for schools in Kent and has been a keen supporter of the Kent Police cadets and mini cadets.

He also chairs Bluelight Commercial, a PCC owned procurement company designed to deliver value and expertise to all bluelight organisations as well as ensuring responsible use of public resources.

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation is a child protection charity dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse before it happens. As CEO, Deborah is focused on advancing the Foundation’s vision of a world free from sexual abuse and exploitation. Deborah plays a key role in advocating for a greater focus on preventing abuse before it occurs and sits on a variety of groups and boards including the National Crime Agency’s Prevent and Protect and Prepare Boards, and IICSA Changemakers. After leading the Foundation’s communications and fundraising functions for a number of years, she took over as CEO in February 2020. Deborah has 20 years’ experience in media, communications and fundraising and since becoming CEO has successfully grown and expanded the Foundation, as well as support for many of its projects and services.

He is an experienced manager and social care professional with extensive operational knowledge of safeguarding and social work principles, CQC, Ofsted regulatory standards, partnership working, techniques and best practices and their application to different  settings with a variety of individual learner needs. As the College Safeguarding Lead, he maintains oversight of all safeguarding structures, systems and processes within the College. This involves ensuring effective safeguarding support is provided to all learners and that all staff, governors, volunteers adhere to implemented safeguarding policies and processes.  I also interact and work with different statutory, regulatory agencies and providers as part of a multi-agency approach to maintaining safety within the College and local community. He further oversees delivery of care support within the College.

Éamonn is an experiences professional in the field of education and child welfare, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the realm of safeguarding and educational leadership. Serving as the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Assistant Headteacher, and Local Authority Safeguarding Consultant, Éamonn has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to creating safe and nurturing environments for all students.

In his capacity as the Lead Safeguarding Consultant for ENE4 Education Consultants, Éamonn has played a pivotal role in shaping safeguarding policies and practices, contributing significantly to the enhancement of child protection measures within educational settings. This role underscores his influence in driving systemic change and fostering best practices in safeguarding and online safety.

As a Chair of Governors for an all-through SEND school, he brings strategic leadership, governance expertise, and a passion for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to ensure the school meets the unique requirements of its diverse student body.

Simone is Head of Policy and Research at Internet Matters. She is responsible for stakeholder engagement, developing evidence-led policy positions and delivering projects which aim to influence Government, industry and more.  She leads the organisation’s programme of work on vulnerable children, and is Chair of the UK Council for Internet Safety’s Vulnerable Users Working Group. Simone was previously a Senior Policy Adviser to the Children’s Commissioner, leading on digital policy, and a researcher at the think tank Demos. She started her career working for a children’s autism charity. Outside of work Simone is Safeguarding Governor for a primary school in North London.